Friday, April 27, 2012

The Dodgers struck first tonight, with Matt Kemp singling and Andre Ethier homering in the first inning. Don Mattingly rode Clayton Kershaw, leaving him in for eight innings and 113 pitches. Kershaw's only blip was allowing a two-run homer to Adam LaRoche in the sixth; he left in the eighth with a 3-2 lead.

Two plays at the end of the game show how close it was: Tony Gwynn Jr. was thrown out at the plate to end the eighth, and Kenley Jansen, in to close for Javy Guerra, missed giving up a game-tying homer to Danny Espinosa by inches.